m390

Reate Kirby Lambert Crossroads Review

I saw this knife on the cover of Blade Magazine and had to have it. That’s the short version at least, but the story goes back way further than that.

Buy the Reate Crossroads at BladeHQ

I’ve been a fan of Kirby Lambert’s work for years. He was one of those makers that captivated me with his crisp lines and clean work. The knives seemed to belie human intervention. I also remember when Andrew got a Kirby Lambert Wharn. It was late 2012 I think. It actually inspired me to get on Kirby’s books to try and order a Snap. I was on his books, but must have fallen out of line as I never got the follow up email when it was my turn. But that’s OK, a custom Kirby Lambert knife is an object I enjoy lusting over more than actually owning.

But when I saw the Reate Crossroads on the cover of that magazine, and realized it was a collaboration with Reate that could be had at production level prices. Well, its like I said… I had to have it.

And Reate making a knife I “had to have” is kind of interesting. Reate hasn’t gotten much love here. Beyond the Todd Begg Steelcraft Bodega, we haven’t featured a single Reate knife. That isn’t for lack of wanting. It’s more a lack of direction. Their stuff looks great, but their product line seems so deep and expensive that it’s hard to figure out where to begin. If you had to buy one Reate knife, which knife would be “the” Reate to buy? There is no easy decision, but feel free to make a suggestion in the comments. I think it’s the paradox of choice.

In contrast, the Crossroads was a no brainer. That makes it a smart move for Reate. If they can impress the consumer with their collaborations, people will be more likely to try out their OEMs.

General Dimensions and Blade Details

The Crossroads has an overall length of 8.375″, a 3.625″ blade, weighs 5.31 ounces, and is made in China. This is a hefty knife, with a lot of the weight focused around the pivot, so I can’t sit here and say this knife has been a strong daily carry for me. It’s more of a collectible. The knife looks like a pristine custom piece with its two tone blade, custom hardware, and marble carbon fiber hand scales. I’m having time using it hard. But for some this will make a great EDC piece. Others I suspect will baby the knife and keep it more as a collectible. I fall into the latter category.

Here is a size comparison with a workhorse from my collection, the Spyderco Paramilitary 2:

The blade is either a drop point, or a reverse tanto. Hard for me to tell. Or care, if I’m being completely honest. At any rate, there is a blade, and it’s a beautiful blade with a two tone satin finish. The blade has been given a deep hollow grind, and there is a long angled swedge riding most of the blade length. The end result is a functional blade shape with sloping belly, and needle fine tip. But it’s also a unique and somewhat unusual blade shape with what appears to be a broad sweeping shoulder, or a bull neck of steel that meets the top of the bolster.

One odd complaint is that although there is a large sharpening choil, the blade is not sharp all the way down at the heel. There is maybe a quarter inch of unsharpened blade. Hopefully my knife is an exception, but this is an odd omission on a knife that appears to have otherwise been lavished with attention.

Reate chose M390 stainless steel for the blade material. Readers of my various reviews of high end knives will know and love M390 for it’s ability to hold a keen edge, to be relatively easy to sharpen, and resist rust and corrosion. It also takes a nice finish as shown by this beautiful blade.

Despite the heel of my blade being unsharpened, the Crossroads otherwise came exceptionally sharp out of the pouch. Blade stock is relatively thick, but the knife still slices cleanly thanks to that deep dish grind. Can’t say I’ve run this knife hard, but my light duty has shown that the Crossroads is a capable cutter.

Handle, Ergonomics, and Pocket Clip

The Crossroads is a bolstered knife, with your choice of handle scale material over titanium. The bolstered look is a Kirby Lambert signature, and it has been executed beautifully on this knife. You can barely feel the seam as you run your finger over the transition between the handle scale and titanium bolster, at least with this marble carbon fibered version. The hardware is all anodized titanium. The pivot in particular is a striking dual anodized affair. A floating titanium backspacer and lanyard pin rounds things out.

All said this is a beautifully rendered handle and it captures the essence of what makes Kirby’s work so special: his unique aesthetic coupled with an eerie level of fit and finish. There are superb details on this knife and the materials are all top notch. Check out that marble carbon fiber. You can get lost in this stuff:

By and large the Crossroads is a comfortable knife. First of all, the handle is generous and will accommodate most people. The finger choils are large and allow for plenty of room. Sometimes finger choils can constrict the user, but I didn’t find that to be an issue here. There is no jimping, yet the broad spine of the blade provides plenty of room for the thumb.

But I also found that my thumb caught on the tang of the blade. I’m talking about where the spine of the knife meets the stop pin. It’s shaped like a hook, and I wonder if something could have been done to ease that edge. One commandment of knife design is that the only sharp edge should be found on the blade, and in a way this knife violates that cardinal rule.

The Crossroads utilizes a titanium sculpted pocket clip. Some people won’t like this, but I think the titanium clip works great, and compliments the aesthetics of this knife perfectly. The clip has good spring action, and it does a decent job of holding the knife in your pocket. The smooth titanium and smooth marble carbon fiber won’t give you the pocket shredding traction of a Cold Steel or Emerson folder, but I suspect it will get the job done for most people, especially given the dressy nature of the knife.

The Crossroads is a big and bulky knife. There is no way around that, and you will feel the Crossroads in your pocket> Plus, the nature of the the bolstered design puts a lot of weight towards the pivot, so you will get some “pendulum” action if you aren’t careful. Not the best knife for daily carry, but if every knife was as practical as my Native 5 lightweight I wouldn’t have a whole lot to write about.

Deployment and Lockup

The Crossroads is a flipper with a multi-row ceramic bearing system. This is my first multi-row bearing system (MRBS) knife, and part of me is tempted to take it apart to see what that looks like (and show you). The other part of me doesn’t want to dick up the anodized titanium hardware. Been there, done that with my Fantoni CUT Flipper. I still regret the day I tried to take that knife apart and stripped the screws.

Here is a shot of the Crossroads next to my Olamic Wayfarer 247:

I searched online for a picture of the internals of the Crossroads and couldn’t find anything. For now we will all have to use our imaginations and figure that inside there is some sort of MRBS. It appears to be a caged bearing system as I peek into the knife. And I’d believe it given the glassy smoothness to this knife. The blade falls shut easily.

The detent is also ceramic with a crisp and punchy action. There is a detent ramp that adds to the fluidity of the action like the Wayfarer 247, but it still feels different from the 247. The action of the Reate is still sharper and hydraulic. The jimped flipper tab is also sharper, easily grabbing the pad of your index finger. I’d rate the action as a strong “9” on a 0-10 scale. It’s good. Damn good.

For lockup we have a bolster lock. Really, it’s a titanium framelock, but the marble carbon fiber overlay distinguishes this knife slightly from your typical full titanium framelock. Something different.

Lockup is bank vault tight. No play in any direction. The lock is easy to disengage thanks to a small chamfer on the inside of the lock bar. One thing I will note is that the edge of the carbon fiber, where it meets the lock, comes to a sharp point at the peak of the finger choil. I don’t think there is much they could have done beyond changing the design of the knife, but it’s there.

Blade centering is perfect on my piece. As I would expect on a knife like this.

Reate Crossroads Review – Final Thoughts

The Reate Crossroads is a beautiful piece. As someone who has pined for a Kirby Lambert custom for the better part of a decade, the Crossroads had the potential to let me down given the hype and anticipation of owning a Lambert for so long. But I’m pleased to say the knife doesn’t disappoint. It’s a beautiful piece featuring top shelf materials, next level fit and finish, and a dynamic design from Kirby.

But it’s not perfect. In some ways it is finished so crisply it’s uncomfortable. There are a couple sharp edges, namely on the back of the blade where the tang meets the stop pin, and where the carbon fiber bolster meets the lock bar. The knife doesn’t carry that well thanks to all the weight at the pivot. Also the heel of the edge is unsharpened. That may just be an issue with my particular knife.

In a perfect world I’d like to see those issues addressed somehow, but I still see these as relatively minor complaints given the overall splendor of the Crossroads. More of a collectable than an a user, but it’s as close as I’ll probably ever come to owning a custom Kirby Lambert.

Reate Crossroads – From $355.00
From: BladeHQ

I recommend purchasing the Reate Crossroads at BladeHQ or GPKnives. Please consider that buying anything through any of the links on this website (including Amazon) helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

Olamic Wayfarer 247 Review

by Dan Jackson 2 Comments

Years ago, when I was in law school and just starting this web site, Olamic came onto the scene with their damascus fixed blade knives. They actually reached out to me, to see if I would write an article on their knives for the site. I agreed, as I thought it was pretty cool that a knife manufacturer actually cared about what I was doing, and they ended up sending 3 knives over for examination.

Buy the Wayfarer 247 at BladeHQ

Due to some intellectual property complications on their end I was asked not to proceed with the article, but I still had the chance to check out the knives. They were cool, but never something I would have bought for myself. In fact, not even Olamic knows who buys those things. Ultimately I boxed them up and sent them back at their request.

Since then Olamic has continued to make damascus fixed blades in Russia, but they are best known are their high end folders. Olamic means “everlasting” and their motto is “Never the Same”. That’s because they offer the knives in a near infinite number of configurations. Even their logo is the infinity symbol. Pretty cool.

Originally their folders were true custom pieces, and they still make custom knives, but the Wayfarer 247 is more of a mid tech knife. What I mean by that is the basic parts are pre-machined in Italy, and then the folders are completed by hand in California.

This is a high end folder with the basic model starting at $375, but most of them are priced at $500+ with various hand worked finishes. At that price, it’s no wonder it has taken me this long to buy one of these knives. But plenty of people buy them. In fact they appear to fly off the shelves. The high praise intrigued me, so I ponied up and acquired a 247 for review.

General Dimensions and Blade Details

The Wayfarer 247 has an overall length of 8.125″, a 3.5″ blade, and it weighs 5 ounces. The knives are made in America. This is a larger EDC knife. Olamic recently came out with the Busker, which is more of an urban EDC knife with its 2.5″ blade. I’m sure the Busker is more practical as a daily carry, but the Wayfarer caught my eye with its sleek lines.

The 247 comes in your choice of blade shapes. I went with what Olamic refers to as their “original drop point”. It has a high flat grind, a long swedge, and a fine clipped point. My blade has been given an excellent satin finish, but you can also get the blade stonewashed, coated, or two tone. The grinds are pretty crisp, and the edge is neat and even. There is a sharpening choil so you can easily sharpen the knife all the way to the heel. It’s a nice functional blade shape.

For blade steel we have M390. I think that’s all they are offering the knife in currently, as I don’t see an option for blade steel on their website. That’s fine by me as M390 is good stuff. Relatively easy to maintain, excellent edge retention, good toughness, stainless, it has a proven track record as a high end knife steel.

I bought this knife used off the forums, and it came with what appears to be the used factory edge. The prior owner had nicked it in a couple spots and it was quite dull. So to bring the edge back I started out with my DMT Diafold to work out the nicks. I then switched to the ceramic rods from my Sharpmaker.

At that point it was pretty sharp, certainly a workable edge for my basic purposes, but I decided to hone it on my new Spyderco Golden Stone. This is an ultra fine ceramic stone with an interesting ducks foot shape. I thought it would be good for my kitchen knife given the stone’s size and unique configuration, but at this point I’m using it on all my blades. I was able to get an extremely fine hair popping edge with this stone. It is truly an excellent stone and I look forward to reviewing it in the future.

The moral of the story is despite it’s high hardness, M390 is an easy steel to maintain. If I can get it sharp most people will be able to. The knife has held a good edge and has worked just fine for my usual EDC tasks, which these days is mostly opening up cardboard boxes containing cigars and more knives. It makes great carrot sticks as well.

Handle, Ergonomics, and Pocket Clip

The handle is where things start getting interesting. This is a full titanium framelock. Just like all their other knives. You have a wide choice of finishes. My particular knife features holes in the show side slab, a bronze anodization, and their “kinetic earth” finish. The hardware has been anodized as well. The end result is a unique knife.

Everything has been beautifully put together. The titanium slabs are thick, and everything has been nicely finished. Perhaps the most interesting feature is the floating backspacer. It’s a cool detail, and has been given the same finish of the rest of the handle. Another detail is the custom pivot. I’m happy to say Olamic includes a pivot tool with each knife. The pivot looks good, but it’s a little more fiddly to adjust than a regular torx or allen pivot, as the tool has a tendency to slip out of the pivot. At least when I’m using it.

Another cool detail is that you can order replacement sets of hardware for your knife. My guess is that this is mostly for those that want to change up the look of their knife, not so much replacing missing hardware, but either way you are covered.

Let’s turn to ergonomics. This is a comfortable knife. First off, it’s quite thick, clocking in at .46″. The thickness combined with the sweeping full size handle gives you plenty to grab onto. The knife fills your hand, and Olamic has done a great job knocking down any sharp edges. The Wayfarer almost feels like a cold stick of butter in your hand. It’s not slippery, but it is extremely smooth and comfortable. It feels unique when compared with everything else in my collection.

The simple handle design provides one groove for your index finger to nestle into place. Plenty of room even for larger hands. I suppose if you run out of real estate you can always graduate to the full size custom Wayfarer, but that may require a second mortgage. Rounding things out is a short run of jimping on the spine of the blade. The jimping captures your thumb nicely, and strikes a balance between providing traction without blistering your thumb.

The pocket clip is another interesting detail. The clip borrows heavily from the designs found on the Todd Begg Steelcraft Bodega. Olamic licensed it, so no worries there. The clip is a slab of titanium secured by 3 stand offs and then for retention you have an oversize ceramic ball bearing pressed into the titanium.

The end result is a highly robust pocket clip. Spring tension is excellent, so strong I sometimes have trouble getting this knife into my pocket. No worries about it falling out accidentally I suppose. It’s a good stiff pocket clip, and another high end detail.

In practice the 247 carries well for it it is. This is a big chunky titanium frame lock folder. The chunkiness makes it feel great in hand, but the Wayfarer 247 will never carry like my Spyderco Dragonfly, or even my Native for that matter. But the strong clip keeps the knife securely in place. It’s not a deep carry clip, but must of the knife buries discreetly in the pocket. That’s about all I can ask for.

Deployment and Lockup

This is a titanium framelock flipper. There is a lot of competition in this space, but Olamic spent the time to distinguish their knife from the rest. They utilize caged bearings, a ceramic ball detent, an internal stop pin, and a detent ramp. A detent ramp is a small groove or chamfer milled into the tang of blade. What it does is make the action a little smoother when you close the knife. Rather than the ball detent hitting the tang jarringly, this groove makes rentry smoother and easier. Its details like this that help set the knife apart.

And the knife does have a different action than anything else I own. The detent ramp and other details give the action of the 247 an almost hydraulic feel. The blade practically “whooshes” open as if there were a pneumatic piston inside. The blade fires hard no matter what, and the action is smooth and glassy. The detent is strong, but the detent ramp and thick handle smooth it out whether you are opening or closing the knife. Opening and closing the blade of the 247 is a uniquely satisfying experience.

Here is a shot of the detent ramp:

Moving towards lockup, we have a titanium framelock with a stainless steel lock bar insert and an internal stop pin. The internal stop pin is another interesting feature. It makes for a simpler design (no visible stop pin), and it works well. There is zero blade play in this knife. No lock rock, no lock stick, no side to side, no nothing. It’s a perfectly executed framelock. You would expect that at this price point, and Olamic delivers.

Here is a size comparison with the ZT 0609:

A final point is the blade centering. My blade is perfectly centered. I noticed that the pivot came loose during testing causing the blade to wander. and I was able to tighten it back up to true without a problem.

After publishing the review I decided to disassemble the knife. The 247 was straight forward to disassemble. You can see that in addition to caged bearings, there are stainless steel washers to prevent the bearings from wearing into the titanium handles. Reassembly was easy and the knife came back together perfectly.

Olamic Wayfarer 247 Review – Final Thoughts

Olamic’s goal for the 247 was to build a top shelf titanium framelock flipper that can be customized to the end user, yet still sold at a reasonable price. By and large I think they have accomplished that. I detect very little in the way of compromise here, and that is reflected in the build quality and price tag. Every aspect of the knife has been lavished with attention, from materials selection to engineering to finish work, it has all be carefully considered and expertly executed.

Where the 247 really stands apart is in its ability to be factory customized. A handful of years ago “modding” knives was all the rage. You see less of that these days, but the success of knives like the 247 show that people still care enough to want to have a customized knife. The standard 247 is really a blank canvas, and Olamic will do whatever you want with it. Of course it quickly gets expensive, but that doesn’t seem to deter people.

So that begs the question, a knife like the one shown here retails for approximately $500. For that amount of money, would you rather have the 247 or 2 high end Spyderco’s or ZTs? When I plunked my 0609 down next to the Olamic, I could see where the extra money went. Olamic has succeeded in creating a unique feel for their factory custom framelock flipper. The ergonomics and action are unlike anything else I own. The ZT is an excellent knife for the money, but there is no comparison. Especially if you get a base model 247 for around $350. At that price you get the exceptional flipper action and ergonomics without the additional cost of the extra finish work.

And Olamic doesn’t seem to be competing with these major brands anyways. They are essentially building the Chris Reeve Knives of flippers. Actually, I’m not sure if that is still a fair comparison. While CRK may have shown us what was possible with a high end production folder in the early 2000s, Olamic shows us what’s possible today.

Some will scoff at the robust price tag, but this is a high end knife. It simply isn’t aimed at the price conscious. If you want a titanium flipper framelock with uncompromising quality and the ability to “make it your own”, then the 247 is an excellent choice.

Olamic Wayfarer 247 – From $375.00
From: BladeHQ

I recommend purchasing the Olamic Wayfarer at BladeHQ. Please consider that buying anything through any of the links on this website (including Amazon) helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

Giant Mouse ACE Nimbus Review

by Josh Wussow 1 Comment

Few names in the knife world garner as much respect as Jesper Voxnaes and Jens Anso. Together, they’re a veritable dynamic duo of knife design. So, when the folks at Giant Mouse Knives agreed to send over a loaner of the pair’s new ACE Nimbus model, the clouds parted and I beheld the aura of a truly excellent EDC blade.

Mythical and meteorological references aside, this is a surprisingly grounded tool. Based off a venerable midcentury motorcycle, Anso and Vox drew inspiration from the “rugged, utilitarian design objectives of the Nimbus.” The Giant Mouse website hails it as their “take on a great tool knife… the kind of knife you will love to use for years to come.”

General Dimensions and Blade Details

Let’s start with the Nimbus’ centerpiece – Three inches of flat-ground Bohler M390. This beautiful blade is a full inch tall, with a thickness of 0.14 at its well-chamfered peak. The satin finish provides a glow worthy of its namesake’s Merriam-Webster definition, with beautifully etched logos on the clip side. The teardrop opening hole is rounded along its top (where your finger is most likely to make contact), though the lower edge has been left square.

Behind the blade, users will be treated to 4.25-inches of textured G-10, with stainless steel liners and a reversable wire pocket clip. The Nimbus is fairly wide through the hips, exactly twice as tall in the handle (1.1”) as it is across (0.55”). This brings the weight to a not-inconsiderable 4.04-ounces – Hefty, but not bad for a heavy-use tool.

And indeed, this is how Giant Mouse wants us to consider the Nimbus. They advertise it as “the knife you’ll want to keep in your winter coat, backpack, working jeans or toolbox.” In that vein, here’s a comparison with the two other folders I reach for when the going gets tough: The Spyderco Native 5 and Zero Tolerance 0562.

So, how does it perform? Honestly, this one took a while to grow on me. The blade felt undersized at first, struggling to straddle apples and medium sized onions. The turning point came in the form of several large bookshelf boxes from my construction trailer. These paper behemoths fell to pieces in the face of the Nimbus. Its tall edge glided through six-foot swaths of quarter-inch cardboard, almost reminiscent of a razor knife. Consider me sold.

Performance aside, there are additional advantages to a sub-3.5 blade, legality being foremost among them. From city warehouses to country cabins, it’s a knife that can go where the work is.

A few nitpicks: While I love the cutting capability, I actually feel that the blade may be a little under-branded. The ACE and Giant Mouse logos are great, but the show side has been left completely blank. I’d like to see these split, perhaps with one logo on each side, in addition to a mark announcing the M390 steel.

Handle, Ergonomics, and Pocket Clip

The Nimbus is a nice match for my medium/large hand. The humpback design creates a solid grip, especially when paired with the handle’s overall thickness. The thumb jimping is perfectly placed, just forward of the opening hole. The texturing of the G-10 is sublime, marking a nice balance between smoothness and grip. I’d compare it to the feeling of a Micarta handle from ESEE, making it a bit softer than the G-10 on the ZT 0562 shown above.

The weakest point of this ACE’s ergos lies in its lockbar. The slight scallops cut for thumb traction tend to rest in the joint of my index finger, causing a bit of a sawing effect under heavy grip. It’s not a major issue, and just mentioning it makes it sound like more of an issue than it really is. At no point did I develop a skin irritation because of this bit of texturing. Still, you’ll certainly know it’s there.

Speaking of touchy spots, take a look at the tip in the photo below. More specifically, check out how close it is to the top of the liners.

Yeesh. While it’s not close enough to catch a finger as it slides across the surface, this is my strongest criticism of the knife. A slight alteration in the blade’s angle would have dropped the point safely beneath the surface. As it is, it’s not close enough to be considered a fatal flaw. But you’ll definitely want to mind the gap, as our British friends say.

The wire clip, too, is something of a conundrum. While I’m a huge fan of its overall design and deep-carry function, it does create a minor hotspot in the palm. The pros outweigh the cons here, so I’m happy with it overall.

Let’s take a moment to talk about the internals. The folks at Giant Mouse were kind enough to allow me to take the Nimbus apart, and I’m very glad they did. Take a look at the full breakdown:

Beyond the solidity of its machining, there’s some excellent detail work here. The badging on the liners is very attractive, and obviously meant to be enjoyed by tinkerers such as myself. Then there are the washers, inset with a race track for the bearings. There’s so much to like here, and the disassembly process is relatively straightforward. My lone complaint lies in the free-spinning pivot, which requires a TORX driver on both sides for takedown and dial-in. Otherwise, this knife’s maintenance process was a breeze.

Deployment and Lockup

Giant Mouse said it best themselves: “If you are looking for a trick knife to middle-finger flick and play with during office breaks, we have other options coming in the ACE-line.” This held true throughout my time with the Nimbus.

While the finger hole is certainly capable of producing snappy opens, this isn’t exactly a fidget-friendly tool. For one, the lack of a flipper tab/blade guard makes it possible to flick the edge down onto your thumb during closure. It didn’t happen to me, but careless users may find themselves with a nick or two if they’re not careful. This isn’t something I’d consider as a flaw, especially since Giant Mouse straight up warns you that this is a function-first knife. Still, lockup is solid and satisfying, with the linerlock leaf snapping into place flush with the clip side of the blade tang.

Dialing the action in can take a bit after disassembly, due to the nature of a free-spinning pivot. But once you have the screws in right, you’re left with nothing but smooth solidity.

Giant Mouse ACE Nimbus Review – Final Thoughts

The Nimbus looks, feels, and cuts like a $175 knife – Every inch, every penny. From its excellent construction to the thoughtfulness of its design, this is a rare case where the silver linings outshine whatever troubles make up the cloud. Fans of Anso and Voxnaes will find a lot to like here, and newcomers can use it as a primer for their design philosophy. At the risk of making a pun, the folks at Giant Mouse… Well, they ACE’d it.

Giant Mouse ACE Nimbus – From $175.00
From: BladeHQ

I recommend purchasing the Giant Mouse ACE Nimbus at BladeHQ. Please consider that buying anything through any of the links on this website (including Amazon) helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

Giant Mouse ACE Biblio Review

by Aaron Shapiro 1 Comment

Wandering the hallowed halls of BladeShow in Atlanta can be an overwhelming and even intimidating experience. Knives are (not literally) being thrown at you right and left and it’s difficult to remember what you’ve seen, what you wanted to see, and what you haven’t been able to find yet. Several things stuck out to me during my time in Atlanta and high amongst them was the Giant Mouse ACE Biblio.

Buy the Giant Mouse ACE Biblio at BladeHQ

For those of you who haven’t heard of the Giant Mouse brand before, it is a collaborative production brand between custom knife makers Jens Ansø and Jesper Voxnaes; with the mission to design the highest quality production knife possible at the most reasonable price point they can. Over the past couple of years, I have had the opportunity to handle several knives from GM, but this was the first model that they produced with an ambidextrous clip which I need as a lefty.

The ACE line from GM is an unlimited production run of knives whereas the pure Giant Mouse lines are limited in production to 400 pieces per model. Currently, GiantMouse is offering two different models under the ACE umbrella, the Biblio (reviewed here) and the newly released Nimbus.

But first, as always, some specs:

Blade: 2.75” (with a cutting edge around 2.5”)
OAL: 6.75”
Thickness: .585”
Blade Thickness: .119”
Steel: M390
Weight: 3.8oz
Lock: Liner Lock

(These are my personal measurements made with my calipers and my faithful ruler, manufacturer’s published numbers may vary.)

Blade

The Biblio’s blade can best be described as a nicely bellied Wharncliffe. The blade has an ascending angle from the handle and terminates at a nice fine point. A nice thing about this shape is that when the edge is flat on a surface, the handle is raised above, allowing you to utilize the full length of the cutting edge without your hand interfering.

GiantMouse opted for a full flat grind as well, making this a pretty great utility slicer equally at home in the kitchen or campsite (not that these two need be separate). It’s ground thin and sharpened well straight from the factory. One last detail, GiantMouse has chosen to crown the spine on the blade, as I’ve stated countless times before this is a GREAT way to class up a knife.

The steel choice of M390 comes as an expected choice—the GiantMouse Knives are made in Maniago Italy by, I assume, Lionsteel who uses M390 in a lot of their models (Editor: I think Viper makes it, but I could always be wrong). I personally love this steel, it’s elementally similar to 20CV but manifests a finer grain that becomes apparent once you start sharpening it. I’ve always big a huge fan of M390 and request it whenever possible in custom orders. It’s been a solid performer, is very stain/wear resistant, and holds an edge well.

Handle, Ergonomics, and Pocket Clip

GiantMouse has opted to offer two handle material options for the ACE Biblio, either black G10 (which is accompanied by a satin blade finish) or green micarta (which comes with a stonewashed blade) both of which offer a nice grip and texture. The lines of the handle really lend themselves to locking into the hand, however, I do find that the grip itself is a little on the shorter side, with my pinky falling off the end—this is fixed if I choke up on the knife and utilize the large choil on the blade.

The clip is a simple wire clip that has the option for either “handed” carry. This is a simple method, but effective and has worked fine for me.

In the pocket, the GM is a squish on the thicker side, but being a liner lock you can’t expect much different. The ACE Biblio is far from the worst offender in this category.

Deployment and Lockup

I’ve always thought that having two different deployment methods on a knife generally meant that one took priority over the other. The Biblio, for example, has both an opening hole and a flipper tab but the detent is tuned for the flipper making it relatively difficult to open via the hole. That being said, using the flipper the action is smooth and snappy as expected with bearings.

The Biblio features your typical liner lock situation here, with a small bevel on each side of the lock to allow ambidextrous unlocking. My example engages fully, is solid in all directions, and hasn’t required any adjustment.

Giant Mouse ACE Biblio Review – Final Thoughts

Generally speaking, I think the GiantMouse project as a whole is a great exploration in what happens when two prestigious custom knife makers explore the production side of the knife-world without simply licensing a design or offering a mid-tech. Giant Mouse is a sole entity that operates within the design language of both Anso and Vox.

While I think that limiting the production runs of the of the GiantMouse offerings seems like a play for extrinsic value, it is nice to see that they have adopted an unlimited production run of affordable options.

The Biblio seems like a great choice for anyone that’s a fan of these two specific knife makers, wants a high-value option, or is looking for something that’s a little outside the “canon of normal knife brands.” The ACE Biblio is available (in Black G10) from BladeHQ for $175, and if you think about that… You’re getting an M390 flipper, designed by two well-respected makers, made to the exacting standards of (again what I assume to be) Lionsteel, for less than $200. Pretty hard to beat that these days, in my opinion.

Giant Mouse ACE Biblio – From $175.00
From: BladeHQ

I recommend purchasing the Giant Mouse ACE Biblio at BladeHQ. Please consider that buying anything through any of the links on this website (including Amazon) helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

Microtech Halo VI Review

by Dan Jackson 10 Comments

“I tried being reasonable. I didn’t like it.”

Buy the Microtech Halo VI at BladeHQ

I always enjoyed that quote from Clint Eastwood, and couldn’t help but think about it as I wielded the Halo VI. There is absolutely nothing reasonable about this knife. Any justification that this would be my “new EDC” went completely out the window when I fired it for the first time and ~5″ of steel slammed out of the front with a terrific bang. Even more ridiculous is using the charging handle to recapture the blade. It’s something you would expect to see in a video game. This is a serious piece of hardware. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever owned before, and it revels in its unreasonableness.

But that’s part of what makes knife collecting fun. If everything was a Delica 4 there would be no point to it. Sure we would all have a practical knife clipped to our pocket, but the fun in collecting would be long gone. Thankfully we don’t need to worry about being confined to using a government knife to cut our government cheese any time soon. Unreasonable knives like the Halo VI are doing their part to keep the joy of collecting safely intact.

General Dimensions and Blade Details

The Halo VI has an overall length of 10.82″, a 4.5″ blade, weighs 6.5 ounces, and is made in the USA. It’s the closet thing I’ll come to owning a light saber. It’s big, it’s unwieldy. If comes from a long series of Halo knives. I won’t proclaim to be an expert on all things Microtech, but my understanding is that this is the first knife that the company produced. It’s a single action out the front automatic.

Here is a link to Microtech’s product page for the Halo VI. They give a detailed look at the knife in all its various configurations. Worth browsing if you are interested in the knife.

Here is a shot of the Halo VI next to my Microtech Stitch:

And as I mentioned before, the Halo VI is not a daily carry. In my book it’s mostly a collectible. Sure, it’s fully functional, and we will get into all of those details in the review, but it’s not a knife I see myself carrying. First of all, there is no pocket clip. Second, it has almost a 5″ blade. Third, it looks and sounds like a weapon of mass destruction.

My girlfriend, who is generally pretty cool with me having dozens of pocket knives scattered all over the house, is legitimately scared of this thing. I can only imagine how the old lady in line at the post office would react to me using this to trim packing tape. Probably by calling 911. Unless you are at a knife show there is no way you will be able to use this knife in public. It’s probably illegal for me to even take it out of the house without obtaining a concealed carry permit. On that note, you will definitely want to check your local laws carefully before carrying a Halo VI. This is not a knife that the general public will understand or appreciate.

But what the Halo VI lacks in practicality, it makes up in novelty. I think it may be the coolest knife I’ve ever owned. And I’ve owned some cool stuff over the years.

Lets check out the blade. At 4.5″ long, and over 4mm thick, it’s an imposing piece of steel. Microtech offers this in a modified drop point (or possibly a clip point) blade that they refer to as the “single-edge” or “S/E”, and they also offer this in an American tanto version with the “T/E” designation.

You also get your choice of serrations, and a number of finish options, including typical finishes like satin, bead blast, and stonewashed finishes. But they also have their “apocalyptic” finish, bronze, D.L.C., and then their painted finish shown here. Normally I’m not a big blade coating guy, but this is what was available with an unserrated edge, so that is what I got.

My blade is made from Bohler M390, a blade steel that needs no introduction at this point, seeing how we have reviewed dozens of knives running M390 by now. It’s a high end stainless steel and is widely considered to be one of the best steels for an EDC knife on the market today. It has that enviable combination of holding an edge for a long time while still being easy to sharpen. Usually a knife steel will either be extremely hard, so the edge holds a long time, but it’s very difficult to sharpen when the knife dulls. That’s not the case with M390, which is why it’s such a popular choice on high end pocket knives. It also finishes nicely, doesn’t chip easily, and is a stainless steel. It’s good stuff.

Given that this knife is a collectible, and not a practical EDC item, I haven’t done a ton of cutting with it. It came very sharp from the factory. It’s not a great slicer due to the thick blade and partial flat grind. It forms a wedge, kind of like a splitting maul, and will pop apart an apple rather than thinly slicing it like a Swiss Army Knife. But that’s OK. They didn’t design this thing to slice apples.

Handle and Ergonomics

A 6.125″ milled 6061-T6 aluminum handle encapsulates our big blade. If a black handle is too pedestrian for you, Microtech offers these in almost every color under the rainbow, including a couple camo variants. I’m fine with black, but then again, I’m boring.

The handle is held together with Microtech’s proprietary hardware. Normally this would be the part of the review where I bitch about proprietary hardware, but I have no intention of taking this knife apart. If there is ever a problem I’ll send it back to Microtech.

The fit and finish on this knife is absolutely top notch. It’s a precision machined piece of hardware. I can’t find a gap, unexpected sharp edge, or flaw anywhere. This may not be the most practical tool, but you have to admire how well it is built.

The Halo VI feels good in the hand. It’s kind of like a small light saber. There is no lack of real estate, and Microtech has created a funky pattern of jimped curves to it that adds some visual interest as well as spots for your fingers to rest.

I suppose the most practical application for the Halo VI would be in a martial arts capacity. I have no training in that regard, so can’t comment on the efficacy of the design in that role. As a layperson, I can tell you it feels fine in hand. There is plenty of room to grip this knife, and you can do so in a number of different configurations. The hard anodizing provides a tiny amount of traction. It’s not slippery, but it isn’t sand paper either.

The Halo VI doesn’t come with a pocket clip. Probably for a reason, as the last thing you would want is for this knife to accidentally deploy in your pants. Even with the new safety, I’d rather not take that risk. And with a closed length of over 6″, it’s not a pocket friendly knife anyways. I’d probably go with an Scarab or Troodon instead for daily carry.

It seems like the best option for carrying your Halo VI is with a sheath. You could requisition a large enough magazine pouch, make a sheath, or have a leather or kydex sheath made for it. There are companies that specialize in making aftermarket sheathes for the Halo VI. Linos Sheathworks currently has a kydex sheath on offer for less than $50.

Deployment and Lockup

This is where we get to the good stuff. This is a single action out the front, which means the blade fires out with a press of the button, but need to manually retract the blade when you are done by pulling back on the charging handle. Contrast this with a double action out the front, where the button is used to both open and close the blade. With the case of a single action Out-The-Front (OTF) automatic, all the spring power has been assigned to ejecting the blade. It’s a lot of fire power. Ejecting the blade of this Halo VI is arguably the single most satisfying knife event in my history as a reviewer. It’s fucking awesome.

For this 6th generation of the Halo, Microtech added a small safety to the firing button. This prevents you from accidentally firing the knife. Not a bad idea, especially if you are crazy enough to carry this thing loose in your pocket. The safety is built into the firing button. You pull down on it ever so slightly, and that allows you to depress the firing button and let the blade loose. Generally I’m not a fan of safetys on folding knives. They tend to get in the way. But this safety has been beautifully executed. Purists may not be a fan of this new addition, but I think it has been done so that it doesn’t get in the way of using this knife.

For lockup, this is essentially a button lock knife. So inside there is a cam that holds the blade in place. One of the prior issues with an OTF knife, is that you tend to get blade play in them. That is especially true for the double action OTF’s I have handled. I haven’t handles a Halo V to see what kind of play, if any, is in that knife, but I can tell you this Halo VI has no play in it. It’s absolutely rock solid.

Retracting the blade is a two handed affair. First you need to depress the button. Once again that requires you to use the built in safety. With the button depressed you then pull on the charging rod to recapture the blade. It takes a good amount of force to overcome the spring tension and bring the blade back. The blade slides back in place with a sharp metallic twang. It’s a great sound. I’ve never armed a bear trap, but I would expect it to sound something like recapturing the blade on a Halo VI. It’s significant and satisfying.

The charging rod and the mechanism that holds it into the handle is worth examining. It’s all precision machined. The retaining mechanism is a couple spring loaded tabs. Everything reeks of quality and when the charging rod is in the handle all the parts line up perfectly. I’ve taken a couple detail shots of this, but it has all been beautifully done.

Here is a parting shot of the Halo VI next to my Paramilitary 2. It gives you a good sense of how huge the Halo VI is.

Microtech Halo V.I. Review – Final Thoughts

The Halo V.I. is a lot of fun. It’s also completely ridiculous, which is sure to turn off some people. I’ve been writing knife reviews since 2010, so it’s taken me almost a decade to get around to reviewing a single action OTF. This is a knife that retails for $650, so the expense is one of the reasons I delayed this purchase, but the fact that this is not a knife I can carry and use is the biggest reason why I waited so long to buy one. I like my tool knives, and this Halo V.I. is about as far away from a tool knife as I can get.

But that doesn’t make the Halo V.I. any less fascinating. Part of what makes this knife so satisfying is how well built it is. This is a design that has been refined for 25 years, and it shows. Each detail has been considered and Microtech does a fantastic job with their machining. The resulting knife is borderline obscene, but it has been so well done I can’t help but be impressed with it. Much like the Rockstead Higo I reviewed a while back, it tests the outer limits of what is possible with a production knife.

But as I have continued on my journey of exploring production knives, I’ve ventured further and further from the Benchmade Griptilians and Spyderco Delicas. They are still great, and I plan on continuing to review practical knives, but exploring the outer limits is fun too. This Halo V.I. is certainly out there, but it is so well done that I can’t help but appreciate it.

Accordingly, I can’t recommend this knife for everyone, but if the Halo VI intrigues you, I’m here to say Microtech didn’t cut any corners. Recommended for unreasonable people that that like the idea of a high end single action OTF automatic.

Microtech Halo VI – From $650.00
From: BladeHQ

I recommend purchasing the Microtech Stitch at BladeHQ. Please consider that buying anything through any of the links on this website (including Amazon) helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

Rike Thor4s Review

by Grayson Parker Leave a Comment

Rike doesn’t enjoy the same name recognition that Reate, Kizer, or WE Knives does. While those companies are easily recognizable as the leading names in the renaissance of Chinese knife manufacturing, Rike is often left out of the conversation. On one hand, that’s perfectly understandable: unlike Kizer, WE, or Reate, Rike hasn’t cultivated much cachet with trendy designers, relying instead on in-house designs. At the same time, they have the same reputation for quality as the others, and an aesthetic all their own besides.

Buy the Rike Thor4s at BladeHQ

To be perfectly honest, I never thought that Rike would produce a knife that’d suit my tastes. Most of their offerings have blades nearly four inches long, which is utterly out of bounds for my line of work. When I saw the specs for the Thor4s, I nearly spit out my coffee. A reasonably sized integral? From Rike, no less? I was intrigued, and luckily, my girlfriend noticed and passed that information along to my family.

It should be noted that this was a Christmas present from my folks, and if ever there was a cause for bias, it’s the knowledge that your family might read every criticism you level at an earnestly given gift. I don’t think this has affected my judgment, but all the same, it’s something you should know.

General Dimensions and Blade Details

The Rike Thor4s is among the smallest knives in my collection, with a blade length of 2.375”, a handle length of 3.125”, an overall length of 5.5”, and a weight of 2.08 oz. To be perfectly honest, I was caught off guard by just how small this knife is; to give you a sense a scale, the box is so small I mistook it for jewelry. The blade is short enough that it’s less than ideal on a picnic, but it’s more than long enough for standard office chores. It also bears mentioning that with a blade length less than 2.5”, it’s unlikely to spook any coworkers.

Rike Thor4s

Despite Rike’s fascination with angles, they chose a simple drop point for the blade’s profile. Were it not for a few issues I’ll bring up momentarily, this would be the utilitarian ideal. Most of the spine’s thickness is brought to the tip, so there’s little concern of snapping the tip off, whether in a fall or a bit of prying. The belly is just wide enough to feed, say, the edge of an envelope into, but not so wide that it’ll slip out of a cardboard box you’re breaking down.

Rike Thor4s

The grind on the Thor4s is immaculate. All the details are perfectly executed: the plunge lines are crisp, the swedge is even, and both the primary grind and cutting bevel are consistent and well finished. Unfortunately, the blade stock is thick enough that all that work at a grinder is functionally irrelevant. It cuts fine, don’t get me wrong, but it’s no slicer. That would normally be a deal breaker, but as mentioned above, it’s too short for most food prep anyway.

This is the first knife I’ve reviewed that has M390 steel, and truth be told I haven’t really put it through its paces. A knife this size is meant for intermittent office use, not breaking down a pallet of boxes. It’s held its edge without chipping or rolling, hasn’t rusted, and responds reasonably well to a loaded leather strop. The high satin polish has a remarkable rainbow sheen that undoubtedly helps with rust resistance.

Rike Thor4s

Handle, Ergonomics, and Carry

Of course, the prime selling point of the Rike Thor4s is its integral handle. For the uninitiated, that means that the handle is milled from a single block of material, which in this case is titanium. It’s an expensive process with few (if any) practical upsides, and most of an integral’s appeal lies in its status as a feat of engineering. Rike’s design language carries this theme to its logical endpoint, as the over-machined aesthetic pushes the Thor4s into “pocketable sculpture” territory.

Rike Thor4s

Overall, the ergonomics of the Thor4s are fine, with the exception of two distinct flaws. The first of those is the butt of the handle, which, as you can see, tapers down to a wide, flaired end that leaves a rather sharp point on either side of the handle. In turn, this generates a slight hotspot when the knife is opened, though not when it’s held normally during use. The second issue is the pocket clip. For what I can only guess are aesthetic reasons, the tip of the clip isn’t rounded, or even squared: instead, it ends in an angular point. Most of the time this isn’t a problem, but every so often it catches on the meat of my palm in an altogether unpleasant way.

Rike Thor4s

Normally knives with questionable ergonomics are also unpleasant to carry, but such isn’t the case here. It’s lightweight, compact, and its ergonomic flaws are only noticeable in the hand. As much as I want to rail against milled pocket clips in general, the spring tension on the Thor4s is quite nice, neither fraying the lip of my pocket nor acting like a hook instead of a clip.

Rike Thor4s

Deployment and Lock Up

The blade is deployed by a well-executed flipper. It’s definitely of the ‘pull’ variety: trying to push on the tab will only leave you with a bruised finger. Instead of washers, the pivot runs on caged bearings, which is to be expected at this price point. The detent is crisp, the action is smooth, and as far as deployment is concerned, there’s not a fault to be found.

Rike Thor4s

Once deployed, the blade is held open by a titanium frame lock that features a stainless steel lock insert. There is no horizontal or vertical blade play, and the lock consistently engages around 30% of the blade tang. The decorative pivot collar also functions as an overtravel stop. This is exactly the list of features I want in an integral frame lock. By contrast, when I was working on the DPx Aculus review, I was always aware that if something happened to the lock, I’d be up a certain creek without a paddle.

Rike Thor 4 Review – Final Thoughts

Overall, the Thor4s is an intriguing – if imperfect – addition to the market. The blade stock is a bit chunky, and the ergonomics a bit pokey, but at heart the Thor4s is an office knife, and as such those two flaws are tolerable. Between the top notch manufacturing, high end materials, and the novelty of a sub-3” integral, there’s more than enough to redeem the design.

It’s difficult to find comparisons to the Thor4s. There are plenty of production integrals, but few at this price point, and none at this size. The Lionsteel SR-22 (when it debuts) will be the next smallest integral that I’m aware of, but even then it will be substantially larger than the Thor4s. If you’re in the market for reasonably sized integral, this is likely your only option.

Next up: the Steel Will Modus.

Editor: I recommend purchasing the Rike Thor4s at BladeHQ. Please consider that buying anything through any of the links on this website, including Amazon.com helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.